Books Blog : humor, funnyhttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/tags/humor/funny/default.aspxTags: humor, funnyenCommunityServer 2008 SP1 (Build: 30619.63)Recent Chick Lit Readshttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/10/14/recent-chick-lit-reads.aspxWed, 14 Oct 2009 21:33:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:1902KickinLibrarian@evpl0http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=1902http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/10/14/recent-chick-lit-reads.aspx#comments<p><img height="211" width="163" src="http://wwwimage.cbsnews.com/images/2009/09/28/image5345445.jpg" alt="Prospect Park West" style="margin:10px;" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="214" width="161" src="http://www.halogenlife.com/shared_assets/images/0002/6921/mercury.jpg" alt="Mercury in Retrograde" style="margin:10px;vertical-align:bottom;" />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<img height="215" width="162" src="http://www.sweetspot.ca/uploaded_images/TwentiesGirl.jpg" alt="Twenties Girl" style="margin:10px;" /></p>
<p>In the past few weeks since my last blog post, I have been on a chick-lit rampage.&nbsp; I have been speed-reading through recent releases like I don&#39;t have a hundred other things to do.&nbsp; Laundry piled up, kitchen didn&#39;t get cleaned, and packing for my move didn&#39;t happen.&nbsp; These three books are part of the reason that I have been slacking.&nbsp; </p>
<p><em>Prospect Park West&nbsp;</em>by Amy Sohn&nbsp;takes place in Brooklyn&#39;s prosperous&nbsp;Park Slope&nbsp;neighborhood.&nbsp; The lives of four women intersect as they deal with husbands, children, and playground politics.&nbsp; Not earth-shattering reading, but worth a chance if you have the time.</p>
<p><em>Mercury in </em>Retrograde by Paula&nbsp;Froelich has a cover&nbsp;strikingly similar&nbsp;to Prospect Park West.&nbsp;&nbsp;Froelich&#39;s novel takes place across the bridge in Manhattan where three&nbsp;women who are down on their luck join forces to get their lives back in order.&nbsp; The ending&nbsp;is pretty predictable, but it is an enjoyable read.</p>
<p>Going across the pond to England, Sophie Kinsella&#39;s&nbsp;latest book<em>, Twenties&nbsp;Girl</em>, introduces us&nbsp;to&nbsp;Sadie, a wild flapper from the 1920s and her great-niece, Lara, living in&nbsp;present-day London.&nbsp; Sadie has passed away alone in a retirement home, but&nbsp;her spirit remains on&nbsp;Earth pushing Lara to find&nbsp;who stole Sadie&#39;s prized possession.&nbsp;&nbsp;True to Kinsella form, this book is laugh out loud funny and&nbsp;highly recommended.&nbsp; </p>
<p>Happy Reading!&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://evpl.org/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1902" width="1" height="1">humorreviewsfictionbookschick litLondonfunnylovewomenfriendsSophie KinsellaAmy SohnPaula FroelichOutside my comfort zone - a fun place to be!http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/02/03/outside-my-comfort-zone-a-fun-place-to-be.aspxWed, 04 Feb 2009 00:20:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:1208librarianinheels@evpl2http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=1208http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/02/03/outside-my-comfort-zone-a-fun-place-to-be.aspx#comments<div><img width="303" src="http://contentcafe2.btol.com/ContentCafe/Jacket.aspx?UserID=III21&amp;Password=BT0005&amp;Return=T&amp;Type=L&amp;Value=9780316032223" alt="beat the reaper" height="336" style="float:left;margin:5px;border:black 5px solid;" /></div>
<div>I once saw the librarian Nancy Pearl speak at&nbsp;this library, and she advised &#39;reading outside of one&#39;s comfort zone&#39;. I tried recently it with <em><a href="http://encore.evpl.org/iii/encore/record/C%7CRb1883766%7CSbeat+the+reaper%7COrightresult?lang=eng&amp;suite=def">Beat the Reaper</a></em>, a debut novel by <a href="http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/authors_Josh-Bazell-(1520914).htm">Josh Bazell</a>, and frankly, I liked it. </div>
<div><br />Ok.&nbsp;&nbsp;To start with&nbsp;- I am <em><strong>not</strong></em> a fast reader. That&#39;ll come into play at the end of this post. <br /><br />Secondly, the best way to describe <em>Beat the Reaper</em> is this: it&#39;s one part <em><a href="http://www.fox.com/house/">House</a></em>, one part <em><a href="http://www.hbo.com/sopranos/">Sopranos</a></em>. If that appeals to you, read on. <br /><br />And ok, so I&#39;ve never been much for thrillers, or crime novels...but <em>Beat the Reaper</em> was pretty darn good. First of all, it met my first requirement for any book - it had me from page one. A mugging, a pigeon vs. rat smack-down, and the tables completely turned on the mugger in question...are all a part of the introduction of our protagonist, a former hit man in the witness protection program, now fulfilling his potential as a doctor. The next eight hours of his life - the scope of the novel - are critical to his survival. <br /><br />What drew <em>me</em> into it <em>Beat the Reaper</em> was a fairly rich, quickly moving subplot...the backstory of the protagonist prior to his medical training, and the impact of the lives of others on his, rather than the impact his life had on others. It&#39;s darkly comic, especially in the abundant footnotes that explain (in sometimes almost hyper-colloquial detail) the circumstances of the plot. At other times, the footnotes are full of interesting little medical factoids that you may otherwise never have known - but which may someday come in handy at cocktail parties.&nbsp;&nbsp; The author, has a Bachelor&#39;s in writing from Brown University and an MD from Columbia University. He&#39;s now a medical resident at the University of California, San Francisco, and is working on his second novel.&nbsp; And he clearly has a rich imagination, in addition to, as my mother says, &quot;knowing whereof he speaks&quot; - at least in terms of the medical portion of this book. Almost chillingly, painfully, stunningly&nbsp;so, near the end of the book.&nbsp; <br /><br />I finished this book in two days. Which is lightning speed for me!</div><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://evpl.org/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1208" width="1" height="1">humordebut novelbestsellersfunnywitness protection programthrillermafia